Bush to fight Congress sans Gonzales

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation this morning, to the relief of many administration officials who have long considered him an embarrassment. The departure means President Bush will go to battle with Congress next month with a dramatically different set of advisers than before the recess -- and with two of the Democrats' top targets sidelined.

However reluctantly, Bush has been freed from two of the most radioactive members of his political team as he gears up for big fights over the budget and the Iraq war, following the August resignations of Gonzales and his longtime political adviser Karl Rove.

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The changes will leave Bush without any of the Texas pals and pols who masterminded his rise to power. That is a very significant change for a president who has relied on a virtual oligarchy during his six years office.

More noteworthy than the change of personnel is a likely change of mind-set: With the prominent exception of Vice President Dick Cheney, the team of newcomers now running the West Wing is more accustomed to the ways of Washington and more prone to compromise with Congress.

Gonzales had become the most visible and frequent administration target for the Democratic majority in Congress, which complained that his testimony about the quiet firing of several U.S. attorneys was misleading at best.

The resignations of Gonzales and senior adviser Rove will allow the White House to adopt a new tactic in the showdown with Congress over past mistakes. Instead of only defending the past, the White House now can point to "new leadership" and changes that have been made.

Recent resignations amount to a complete White House makeover -- much like the shuffle many Republicans would have liked to see after Bush's reelection. GOP skeptics worry that it is probably too little, too late to rescue Bush from his political straits.

Bush stood by Gonzales, his longtime friend from Texas, even as White House loyalists despaired about the damage he was doing to the image of the Justice Department. Gonzales, the first Hispanic attorney general, was counsel to Bush in the Texas governor's office, was appointed by him to the Texas Supreme Court and was the president's first White House counsel.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told the Associated Press, "Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove. This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House."

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards issued a four-word reaction: "Better late than never.”

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Fox: “Thank God.”

Democrats have made plain their plans to force the testimony of Gonzales and Rove as part of several high-profile investigations of the mixing of politics and policy during the Bush years.

The probes will continue, Democrats say, but they will certainly lack the punch of an investigation of active members of the Bush inner circle. Several Republicans have been pressuring Bush to oust Gonzales for months, mostly for botching the firing of several U.S. attorneys and the ensuing political fallout. Bush was set to pull the trigger months ago -- under intense pressure from his top aides -- but backed down in large part because of his longtime friendship with Gonzales.

Months ago, the White House began talking to potential successors. Some of the most promising targets rebuffed the overtures, according to people involved in the negotiations.

A senior administration official said Gonzales ultimately made the decision to resign, and Bush accepted it with regret.

That echoed the public line about Rove. It may be true, but it is also true that if Bush really wanted and needed the two men to stick around, they would have. In both cases, Rove and Gonzales had become major liabilities with little upside for Bush. Gonzales was never considered an effective attorney general and baffled many White House insiders with his handling of the U.S. attorneys scandal and contradictory statements about this role.

Rove, too, had worn out his welcome, at least outside Bush’s inner circle. That is in large part because his greatest strength -- politics -- is less relevant for a lame duck president defending an unpopular war.

These departures leave the White House in the hands of Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and counselor Ed Gillespie, both experienced Washington insiders who are far more attuned to the needs of listening to and accommodating Congress than Rove ever was. Republicans are advising Bush to focus on only two things for the remainder of the year: his war strategy and the budget showdown.